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2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification and the International Asperger's Year. Events January * January 1 – Russia cuts the shipment of natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 pilgrims. * January 15 – NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet. * January 19 – NASA launches the first space mission to Pluto as a rocket hurls the New Horizons spacecraft on a nine-year journey. * January 25 – The Walt Disney Company buys Pixar Animation Studios from Lucasfilm Ltd. for $7.4 billion and now Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Pictures. February * February 3 – Egyptian passenger ferry, , sinks in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, killing over 1,000 people. * February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy. * February 17 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines killing an estimated 1,126 people. March * March 9 – NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water. * March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters orbit around Mars. * March 15 – The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the United Nations Human Rights Council. Welcome to the Human Rights Council|last=|first=|date=|website=www.ohchr.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-28}} * March 28 – A scramjet jet engine, HyShot III, designed to fly at seven times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia. April * April 11 ** The European Space Agency's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus' orbit. ** President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium. * April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de facto termination of the deal. May * May 17 – The Human Genome Project publishes the last chromosome sequence, in Nature. * May 27 – The 6.4 Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of IX (Destructive), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured. June * June 3 – Montenegro declares independence after a May 21 referendum. Two days later, the republic of Serbia and Montenegro formed in 2003 collapses, leaving Serbia as the successor country. * June 9 – July 9 – The 2006 FIFA World Cup takes place in Germany; Football World Cup 2006 for World Cup|last=|first=|date=2006-06-09|website=BBC News|access-date=2017-02-05}} which is won by Italy. * June 28 ** Israel launches an offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to rocketfire by Hamas into Israeli territory. ** The United States Armed Forces withdraws its forces in Iceland, thereby disbanding the Iceland Defense Force. July * July 1 – The Qinghai–Tibet railway launches a trial operation, making Tibet the last province-level entity of China to have a conventional railway. * July 6 – The Nathu La pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years. * July 11 – A series of seven bomb blasts hits the city of Mumbai, India, killing more than 200 people. * July 12 – Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel two days later. August * August 22 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing all 170 people on board. * August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of dwarf planet more than 70 years after its discovery. September * September 19 – The Royal Thai Army overthrows the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup d'état. * September 29 – Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 collides with a business jet over the Amazon rainforest, killing all 154 on board the former. October * October 6 – Fredrik Reinfeldt replaces Göran Persson as Prime Minister of Sweden. * October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test. * October 13 – South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, succeeding Kofi Annan. November * November 2 – No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock becomes the most expensive painting after it is sold privately for $140 million. * November 5 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal. He is later executed by hanging for crimes against humanity on December 30. * November 12 – The breakaway state of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia. * November 23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kills at least 215 people and injure 257 other people. December * December 5 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in a coup d'état led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama. * December 11 – Felipe Calderón sends the Mexican military to combat the drug cartels and put down the violence in the state of Michoacán, initiating the Mexican Drug War. * December 24 – Ethiopia admits its troops have intervened in Somalia. * December 26 – An oil pipeline explodes in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, killing at least 200 people. * December 29 – UK settles its Anglo-American loan, post-WWII loan debt. Births * January 27 – Kim Su-an, South Korean actress * March 12 – Lee Re, South Korean child actress * June 23 ** Lee Chae-mi, South Korean actress ** CX Navarro, Filipino child actor * June 25 – Mckenna Grace, American actress * July 25 – Konomi Watanabe, Japanese actress * September 6 – Prince Hisahito of Akishino, Japanese prince * October 5 – Jacob Tremblay, Canadian actor * November 16 – Mason Ramsey, American singer Deaths January ]] ]] * January 3 – Bill Skate, 5th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1953) * January 4 ** Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet (b. 1912) ** Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1943) * January 6 – Lou Rawls, African-American singer, songwriter and actor (b. 1933) * January 7 – Heinrich Harrer, Austrian mountaineer, explorer and author (b. 1912) * January 9 – W. Cleon Skousen, American conservative author and professor (b. 1913) * January 14 – Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920) * January 15 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, 13th Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926) * January 19 ** Anthony Franciosa, American actor (b. 1928) ** Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941) * January 21 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovar writer, scholar and political leader (b. 1944) * January 24 – Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965) * January 25 – Sudharmono, 5th Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1927) * January 26 – Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Pakistani politician (b. 1917) * January 27 – Johannes Rau, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931) * January 29 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-born American artist (b. 1932) * January 30 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist (b. 1927) * January 31 – Paul Regina, American actor (b. 1956) February ]] ]] * February 3 – Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923) * February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist, and writer (b. 1921) * February 8 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/film composer (b. 1914) * February 10 – J Dilla, American music producer (b. 1974) * February 12 – Peter Benchley, American writer (b. 1940) * February 13 ** Andreas Katsulas, American actor (b. 1946) ** P. F. Strawson, English philosopher (b. 1919) * February 15 – Sun Yun-suan, 10th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913) * February 18 – Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa, 5th Prime Minister of Sudan (b. 1919) * February 21 – Mirko Marjanović, 63rd Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1937) * February 22 – Said Mohamed Djohar, 2-Time President of the Comoros (b. 1919) * February 23 ** Giuseppe Amici, ex-Captain Regent of San Marino (b. 1939) ** Telmo Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921) * February 24 ** Don Knotts, American actor and comedian (b. 1924) ** Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924) * February 25 – Darren McGavin, American actor (b. 1922) * February 28 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920) March ]] ]] * March 1 ** Harry Browne, American writer and politician (b. 1933) ** Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947) * March 6 – Dana Reeve, American actress (b. 1961) * March 7 – Gordon Parks, American photographer (b. 1912) * March 9 – John Profumo, British politician (b. 1915) * March 11 – Slobodan Milošević, 3rd President of Serbia (b. 1941) * March 13 ** Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944) ** Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925) * March 14 – Lennart Meri, 2nd President of Estonia (b. 1929) * March 15 – Georgios Rallis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1918) * March 23 – Desmond Doss, American combat medic (b. 1919) * March 25 ** Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944) ** Richard Fleischer, American film director (b. 1916) ** Buck Owens, American, singer, bandleader, and TV host (b. 1929) * March 27 – Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921) * March 28 – Caspar Weinberger, 15th United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917) April ]] * April 5 – Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941) * April 8 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author (b. 1923) * April 11 – Proof, American rapper (D12) (b. 1973) * April 12 – Rajkumar, Indian actor and singer (b. 1929) * April 21 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1931) * April 23 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921) * April 24 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940) * April 25 – Jane Jacobs, American-born Canadian writer and activist (b. 1916) * April 29 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (b. 1908) May ]] * May 3 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921) * May 6 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926) * May 11 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935) * May 12 – Hussein Maziq, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918) * May 13 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923) * May 14 – Robert Bruce Merrifield, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921) * May 21 – Billy Walker, American country musician (b. 1929) * May 22 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945) * May 23 – Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b. 1921) * May 24 – Eric Bedser, English cricketer (b. 1918) * May 25 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer and songwriter (b. 1941) * May 26 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963) * May 27 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939) * May 30 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b. 1926) * May 31 – Raymond Davis Jr., American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914) June ]] * June 1 – Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer (b. 1946) * June 6 – Billy Preston, American artist and musician (b. 1946) * June 7 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (b. 1966) * June 8 – Robert Donner, American actor (b. 1931) * June 12 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (b. 1923) * June 13 – Charles Haughey, 7th Taoisearch of Ireland (b. 1925) * June 17 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962) * June 23 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (b. 1923) July ]] ]] * July 1 – Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937) * July 5 ** Gert Fredriksson, Swedish kayaker (b. 1919) ** Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942) * July 7 ** Syd Barrett, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1946) ** Elias Hrawi, 9th President of Lebanon (b. 1925) * July 8 – June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917) * July 10 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel (b. 1965) * July 13 – Red Buttons, American actor and comedian (b. 1919) * July 17 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918) * July 19 – Jack Warden, American actor (b. 1920) * July 20 – Ted Grant, British politician (b. 1913) * July 21 ** Mako, Japanese-American actor and singer (b. 1933) ** J. Madison Wright Morris, American actress (b. 1984) ** Ta Mok, Cambodian military leader (b. 1926) * July 28 – David Gemmell, British author (b. 1948) * July 30 – Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist (b. 1921) August ]] ]] * August 2 – Luisel Ramos, Uruguayan model (b. 1984) * August 3 ** Arthur Lee, American musician (b. 1945) ** Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (b. 1915) * August 9 – James Van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914) * August 13 – Tony Jay, English-American actor and voice artist (b. 1933) * August 15 ** Te Atairangikaahu, Maori queen (b. 1931) ** Faas Wilkes, former Dutch football player (b. 1923) * August 16 – Alfredo Stroessner, 42nd President of Paraguay (b. 1912) * August 19 – Óscar Míguez, Uruguayan football player (b. 1927) * August 20 – Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911) * August 21 ** Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916) ** S. Yizhar, Israeli writer (b. 1916) * August 23 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician and bandleader (b. 1928) * August 25 – Noor Hassanali, 2nd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1918) * August 26 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924) * August 27 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian filmmaker (b. 1922) * August 30 ** Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (b. 1916) ** Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Nobel writer (b. 1911) September ]] ]] ]] * September 1 – György Faludy, Hungarian poet (b. 1910) * September 2 – Bob Mathias, American athlete (b. 1930) * September 4 ** Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (b. 1942) ** Steve Irwin, Australian environmentalist and television personality (b. 1962) * September 7 – Robert Earl Jones, American actor and boxer (b. 1910) * September 10 ** Daniel Wayne Smith, American actor (b. 1986) ** Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, 4th King of Tonga (b. 1918) * September 11 ** Pat Corley, American actor (b. 1930) ** Joachim Fest, German historian and journalist (b. 1926) * September 14 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (b. 1926) * September 15 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist (b. 1929) * September 16 – Pablo Santos, Mexican actor (b. 1987) * September 17 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b. 1924) * September 22 – Edward Albert, American actor (b. 1951) * September 23 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (b. 1921) * September 26 ** Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912) ** Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American propagandist for Japan in World War II (b. 1916) October ]] * October 4 – Tom Bell, English actor (b. 1933) * October 6 – Buck O'Neil, American baseball player and manager (b. 1911) * October 7 – Anna Politkovskaya, American-born Russian journalist (b. 1958) * October 9 – Paul Hunter, British snooker player (b. 1978) * October 11 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (b. 1972) * October 16 – Valentín Paniagua, President of Peru (b. 1936) * October 20 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910) * October 22 – Choi Kyu-hah, 4th President of South Korea (b. 1919) * October 27 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani civil servant and 7th President of Pakistan (b. 1915) * October 28 ** Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (b. 1917) ** Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (b. 1955) * October 30 – Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (b. 1926) * October 31 – P. W. Botha, former State President of South Africa (b. 1916) November ]] ]] * November 1 ** Adrienne Shelly, American actress and director (b. 1966) ** William Styron, American writer (b. 1925) * November 3 – Paul Mauriat, French musician (b. 1925) * November 5 – Bülent Ecevit, Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1925) * November 8 – Basil Poledouris, American composer (b. 1945) * November 9 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (b. 1941) * November 10 – Jack Palance, American actor (b. 1919) * November 15 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (b. 1985) * November 16 – Milton Friedman, American Nobel economist (b. 1912) * November 17 ** Ruth Brown, American singer (b. 1928) ** Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927) * November 20 – Robert Altman, American film director (b. 1925) * November 21 ** Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese politician (b. 1972) ** Hassan Gouled Aptidon, 1st President of Djibouti (b. 1916) * November 22 – Asima Chatterjee, Indian chemist (b. 1917) * November 23 ** Alexander Litvinenko, Russian-born spy (b. 1962) ** Philippe Noiret, French actor (b. 1930) ** Anita O'Day, American singer (b. 1919) December ]] ]] ]] * December 1 – Claude Jade, French actress (b. 1948) * December 5 – David Bronstein, Soviet Union chess grandmaster (b. 1924) * December 6 – Han Ahmedow, 1st Prime Minister of Turkmenistan (b. 1936) * December 7 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American political theorist and U.N. ambassador (b. 1926) * December 9 – Georgia Gibbs, American singer (b. 1919) * December 10 – Augusto Pinochet, 31st President of Chile (b. 1915) * December 12 ** Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928) ** Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935) ** Ellis Rubin, American attorney and author (b. 1925) * December 13 ** Lamar Hunt, American businessman (b. 1932) ** Charles Peter McColough, Canadian businessman (b. 1922) * December 14 ** Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish record executive (b. 1923) ** Mike Evans, American actor (b. 1949) * December 15 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss race car driver (b. 1939) * December 16 – Marjorie F. Lambert, American archaeologist, anthropologist (b. 1908) * December 18 ** Abdul Amir al-Jamri, Bahraini writer, and poet (b. 1938) ** Joseph Barbera, American animator (b. 1911) * December 21 – Saparmurat Niyazov, 1st President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940) * December 22 – Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919) * December 25 – James Brown, American singer (b. 1933) * December 26 – Gerald Ford, American politician, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913) * December 28 – Mandy Mitchell-Innes, English cricketer (b. 1914) * December 30 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (b. 1937) Nobel Prizes * Chemistry – Roger D. Kornberg. * Economics – Edmund Phelps. * Literature – Orhan Pamuk. * Peace – Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. * Physics – John C. Mather, and George F. Smoot. * Physiology or Medicine – Andrew Z. Fire, and Craig C. Mello. New English words and terms *''agender'' *''bucket list'' *''crowdfunding'' *''crowdsourcing'' *''Eris'' *''hypermiling'' *''mumblecore'' *''sizzle reel'' *''ski cross'' See also References Category:2006